Sunday, March 30, 2008

DJ Hamlet 3:1 Diction and Character Motives

Shakespeare's use of puns creates several meanings to these small lines. Ophelia could simply be saying "What do you mean?", "What are you talking about" or "What does your position of power mean to you?"

Honest on the footnote means chaste, which means morally pure or abstaining from sexual acts. However, honest could mean something else in this context. Honest could mean truthful, and Hamlet could be trying to pry the truth from Ophelia, therefore, he could know that she is being dishonest by working with Polonius and Claudius.